Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Yan Chunyu’s Whereabouts

Jiang Xu couldn’t help but retort when he heard this.

"It’s all Outer Disciples and Servant Disciples... Isn’t it obvious they’re just using us as cannon fodder?"

"That’s not the right way to look at it. After all, the Sect isn’t forcing them to go, is it?"

Zong Ziqi said with a sigh:

"The immortal path is paved with struggle. If an ordinary Cultivator doesn’t risk their life to contend for it, how could they possibly compete against those peerless geniuses who are naturally gifted and from renowned families?"

"You’re not wrong."

That’s what he said, but Jiang Xu silently thought, ’But I won’t do that, and I don’t need to.’

"Cultivators at the bottom have no hope for their future. You can see how their lives will end in a single glance. I’ve never experienced that kind of despair myself, but I imagine it’s the same feeling I had when I lost all my Cultivation."

Zong Ziqi suddenly grew sorrowful:

"So when an opportunity to change their fate presents itself, of course a great many of them will take it—even if they don’t know whether it’s the right path, or whether it will grind them to dust."

"..."

Jiang Xu fell silent.

He felt that Zong Ziqi might as well have been talking about himself.

Wasn’t Zong Ziqi clinging to Body Cultivation as his lifeline, fighting for it with everything he had?

In three months, he had advanced from the Body Refining Early Stage to the Body Refining Middle Stage.

Jiang Xu had never been a Body Cultivator and didn’t know much about it.

But he could guess that relying on Spirit Stones alone could never produce such rapid progress.

To improve himself so quickly, Zong Ziqi must have been putting in an unimaginable amount of effort behind the scenes.

It was something Jiang Xu couldn’t even fathom.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Xu remembered something.

"You still haven’t told me if Yan Chunyu is back yet. What exactly happened back then?"

Zong Ziqi continued to practice his swordsmanship at a leisurely pace.

"You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? You’ve been in seclusion for three months. You think I’ve just been sitting around, busying myself with gathering gossip for you?"

Jiang Xu paid the teasing no mind.

’I guess I’ll go find Ding Shiping then. *Sigh*. I wonder if he’ll be mad that I ghosted him for three months. It really is my fault, though. I took his magic and promised him something, but I never delivered. He has every right to be angry.’

His mind made up, Jiang Xu decided to go find Ding Shiping at once.

"I’m off!"

With a wave of his hand, Jiang Xu left, having only been there for a few minutes.

Zong Ziqi watched Jiang Xu’s retreating back, his eyes narrowing to slits.

"Ever since I began my Visualization of that object, my five senses have grown sharper and sharper. Yet, whenever I’m around Fellow Daoist Jiang, I get this bizarre feeling.

I always feel this faint sense of danger lingering around me, erratic and unfixed. But when I try to find its source, it vanishes. Truly strange..."

Zong Ziqi shook his head, pushing the thought aside. He went back to practicing his slow, deliberate swordsmanship.

...

Jiang Xu kept the Concealing Breath Spell active at all times.

He had now advanced to the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer.

However, compared to his previous rate of cultivation, this speed was obviously far too fast.

After all, it had taken him five years just to reach the Qi Cultivation Third Layer.

This time, however, advancing to the Fourth Layer had only taken four months.

If anyone were to notice, they would definitely realize something was wrong.

That would inevitably lead to trouble.

If he wanted to reveal his true Cultivation, he would need a plausible excuse, one that could explain everything away.

Jiang Xu planned to head to the Talisman Pavilion. In the future, the title of Talisman Maker could explain his accelerated Cultivation speed.

Talisman Makers earned Spirit Stones quickly, and with enough Spirit Stones, one’s Cultivation speed could naturally increase as well.

"I remember Brother Ding saying it was in this area, right?"

After searching for a long time, Jiang Xu finally found the address Ding Shiping had given him.

The residence was clearly much larger than Jiang Xu’s. He could also feel that the surrounding Spiritual Qi was a level higher than the area around his own house.

Moreover, Jiang Xu could feel the surrounding Spiritual Qi slowly flowing toward Ding Shiping’s residence.

"So this is a Spirit Gathering Array? I’ve heard that the Inner Sect Disciples’ residences are all situated on a portion of a Spirit Vein, making them far superior to those in the Outer Sect. Add a Spirit Gathering Array to that... one day of Cultivation here must be worth a day and a half over there, right?"

Standing outside the gate, Jiang Xu activated the Sound Transmission Talisman that Ding Shiping had given him.

After capturing Jiang Xu’s voice, the Sound Transmission Talisman detached from his hand and flew straight through the gate.

Less than a minute later.

BAM—!

The large gate before Jiang Xu was thrown open with great force.

The one who opened it was none other than Ding Shiping!

Ding Shiping was overjoyed to see Jiang Xu when he opened the door, and with a casual wave of his hand, he launched a Fireball Technique.

"Holy shit!"

Jiang Xu jumped in fright.

When he saw a fireball the size of a washbasin materialize in Ding Shiping’s hand the moment the door opened, he thought Ding was mad that he’d been gone so long and was about to teach him a lesson!

But just as Jiang Xu was about to dodge, he realized that the trajectory of Ding Shiping’s Fireball Technique was not aimed at him.

Instead, it was aimed far off to the side, striking the empty ground next to him.

BOOM—!

The intense heatwave from the explosion blasted Jiang Xu from behind, making him shudder.

"Junior Brother Jiang, you’re finally here! I thought something had happened to you! Three whole months! Do you have any idea how I got through these past three months? Goodness, I’ve been waiting and waiting, and I finally have you here! I haven’t spoken a word for four whole days! If you hadn’t come, I was about to break the record for the longest stretch of Silent Meditation! Right, right, come on in! Follow Senior Brother inside, we can take our time and chat..."

The overly enthusiastic Ding Shiping welcomed Jiang Xu inside.

It was only then that Jiang Xu realized the man had cast the Fireball Technique just so he could break his vow of silence.

After they walked through the main gate and into the reception hall, Ding Shiping continued to ramble on.

Jiang Xu was here to find out what had happened to Yan Chunyu, so he tried to find a gap in Ding Shiping’s monologue to ask his question.

But after waiting for a good ten minutes, Jiang Xu still hadn’t found an opening. Ding Shiping didn’t even seem to pause for a gasp of air.

With no other choice, Jiang Xu had to force an interruption:

"Brother Ding, I’ve been in secluded cultivation for the past three months, which is why I’m so late, my apologies. Um, I wanted to ask, has Senior Sister Yan returned? Do you know what happened back then?"

Ding Shiping froze. For the first time, he fell completely silent, his expression turning grave as he said:

"Senior Sister Yan hasn’t returned to the Sect. We don’t know her current whereabouts. But I received a message from the Sect. It said she’s fine and perfectly safe, and that we should rest assured."

After saying this, Ding Shiping fell silent. He seemed conflicted for a long moment before continuing:

"Based on my guess... perhaps... that major event that occurred these past three months... is related to Senior Sister Yan."

"That major event? Don’t tell me... Brother Ding, are you talking about the Secret Realm that appeared in the Endless Forest?"